Angels shortstop Erick Aybar leaps to avoid Oakland's Alberto Callaspo after forcing him at second base and throwing to first base to complete a double play. MARK J. TERRILL, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ANAHEIM – The challenge starts now.

The Angels’ first 12 games this season were against teams that finished below .500 in 2013. Their next 21 contests, beginning with Monday night’s game against the Oakland Athletics, are all against squads that were above .500.

“This is the pressure-cooker, obviously,” said left-hander C.J. Wilson. “The big thing for us is we need to prove that we can go out there and hit the really ace-caliber pitching. We’re gonna run into those guys.”

Among the top starters the Angels are currently scheduled to face in that 21-game stretch are reigning AL Cy Young winner and Tigers right-hander Max Scherzer, left-hander Gio Gonzalez and Yankees right-hander Masahiro Tanaka.

Wilson acknowledged the importance of beating the good teams but said the Angels aren’t going to be a finished product after the seven-series stretch against the A’s, Tigers, Nationals, Yankees, Indians and Rangers.

“The identity of the team is still somewhat liquid, because you have a lot of guys on the team that are still young and bouncing back,” he said. “If Albert keeps hitting the way he’s hitting and he’s the Albert that everybody expects, then that’s gonna be a huge boost to our offense. And then you have guys like Garrett (Richards) and (Tyler) Skaggs and Santiago that are still developing and could obviously be just as good as they’re pitching right now, if not better, on a consistent basis — as a whole.

“We have a couple different X-factors, and I think that’s going to play out over the course of the season, not necessarily over the course of three weeks.”

In 2013, the Angels posted a respectable .554 winning percentage against below-even teams but just a .433 mark against better-than-average teams.

HAMILTON HOPEFUL

Josh Hamilton returned to Angel Stadium on Monday, three days after surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left thumb.

Sporting what he called a half-cast on his left hand, Hamilton was in good spirits in speaking with reporters before Monday’s game.

But he did say he regretted making the head-first slide into first base that caused the ligament damage and halted his hot start.

“I was feeling like my old self, my 2010, ’11, ’12 self,” Hamilton said. “That's why it's a bummer. But there's no reason why I can’t come back and still feel like that.”

Hamilton did not give a specific timetable for when he plans on being back, but he seems to be operating on a shorter time frame than expected. The Angels had previously announced he'd be out 6-8 weeks after surgery; Hamilton referred multiple times Monday to a 4-6 week margin.

He'll get the cast off Friday and replaced with a more manageable splint, at which point he can begin weightlifting and running. But he has been told he won't be able to participate in baseball activities for another two weeks — until May 2.

He expects to head to the Angels’ facilities in Arizona for more rehab work when the team goes on the road the following week.

Hamilton was asked if he was upset to be chided for his decision to slide, which he says he has done throughout his career.

“What I’ve learned is no matter what you do, if something goes bad you’re going to catch criticism,” he said. “It just helps you guys write about more stuff, so you're welcome.”

So, will he stop sliding in the future?

"I'm not gonna make any promises," he said, smiling.

NOTES

LHP Sean Burnett (torn flexor tendon in left elbow) played catch Monday and expects to throw off a mound before the week’s end. He said there was a lot of swelling in his surgically repaired elbow last week, which caused his rehab work to be temporarily shut down, but no pain. … Because of the Ducks’ playoff game against the Dallas Stars, Wednesday’s game against the A’s, initially scheduled to be broadcast on Fox Sports West, will instead be shown on KCOP/13.

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